Orendi/Strategy
This strategy guide was created to help players determine the best Gear and Helix choices for this Hero based on Game Mode type and Role. Contributors are encouraged to share their knowledge so that others may benefit from it. Stats Orendi is a squishy, yet mobile, high-damage AoE caster. Her agility and low HP define her playstyle as avoiding damage through mobilty: stay on the move to avoid incoming damage. She mainly relies on her spells to be fully effective, so the in-and-out movements in combat should synchronize with her cooldowns. This also implies, that landing her spells is of utmost importance, making the ability to predict enemy movement absolutely neccesary. Skills ;Chaos Bolts Orendi's basic attacks. Since her attacks come with no real drawback, it is advised to continually hold primary fire while in combat, unless the situation requires a quick retreat. Her secondary fire generally can be ignored, due to it having a noticably lower dps (~30%) and bearing more risk to miss. Exceptions may occur by build differences. * Primary attack fires a single Chaos Bolt for 46 (+4%/level) damage ** 54 (+4%/level) damage in solo campaign ** Has a fire rate of 3 shots/second ** Can be fired continually when holding the respective button down * Secondary attack fires four Chaos Bolts simultaneously for 92 (+4%/level) damage ** 108 (+4%/level) damage in solo campaign ** Each of the four bolts hits independent from the others, for 23 (+4%/level) damage *** 27 (+4%/level) damage in solo campaign * No special system or amplifier (such as ammo or overheat) * Chaos Bolts can crit * Chaos Bolts benefit from ** Attack Damage ** Attack Speed ** Critical Hit Damage ;Gnosis Her passive. This spell encourages putting the Shadowfire Pillar on cooldown and then reducing it with Nullify. This leads into chaining SFP>Nullify>SFP, and depending on how a build is structured this basic combo can be absolved pretty fluently. * The 5th Helix upgrade Prognostication affects Gnosis, increasing the cooldown reduction of Gnosis by 4 seconds, totaling the cooldown reduction for Shadowfire Pillar to 12 seconds. * Activating Gnosis with the 5th Helix upgrade mutation Renaissance reduces the cooldown of Shadowfire Pillar by 8 seconds and additionally reduces the cooldown of Paradigm Shift by 5 seconds. ;Nullify Her mobility spell. Generally used as a disengage tool, further emphasized by the CC effects on Helix level 2. As mentioned before, encourages being chained after SFP. The backwards dash allows to close in on enemies while beginning a combo to hit basic attacks and spells easier, and then building up distance as the combat pattern approaches its end. When facing melee opponents it is advised to be certain of being able to get away. Due to it holding noticably less damage than SFP and the utility and mobility being important parts of this spell's identity, "Rapid Deterioration" on Helix level 8 for a reduced cooldown is a wise choice. * Orendi has to be relatively close to the target to deal damage and apply associated effects * Damage equals 67 (+8/level) * The cooldown of Nullify is 21 seconds * The Helix upgrades on level 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8 affect Nullify directly * Nullify can't crit * Nullify benefits from ** Cooldown Reduction ** Skill Damage ;Shadowfire Pillar Her main damage source. Most of her Helix augments center around or affect SFP. Gnosis plays a big part in this. When deciding on a build, the player should think ahead and select his gear (especially eventual cdr) accordingly, to match the synergies with his choice on level 4 and 5, and also with his choices on level 9 and 10. This is, because Orendi in her vanilla state is already able to optimize her SFP>Nullify>SFP combo, but with a careful gear and Helix selection the combo can further be refined to fit the playstyle of the player. If the selection of cdr gear and Helix choices is done thoughtless, the player might happen to overcompensate on cdr when used in conjunction with her passive, effectively "wasting" cdr in the process. * Shadowfire Pillar is a medium ranged, ground targeted AoE * Casting the ability enables the AoE indicator before casting the skill itself. Trying to use another skill will make Orendi leave the AoE selection without triggering the cooldown * When casted below a platform, the animation will extend through it, but the damage won't * Placing the AoE on a higher ground works by targeting a unit on the higher platform. The pillar will be placed with the target in the center * Damage equals 300 (+8/level) * The cooldown of Shadowfire Pillar is 15 seconds * The Helix upgrades on level 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10 affect Shadowfire Pillar directly * Shadowfire Pillar can't crit * Shadowfire Pillar benefits from ** Cooldown Reduction ** Skill Damage ;Paradigm Shift Her ultimate. Generally to be used as a nuke. The range and casting process suggest using this skill as a finishing move when your opponent tries to flee. All 3 Helix choices on level 10 transform this spell into one that benefits the user when used mid-combat. Depending on mentioned choice, it is advised to consider the choice made at level 4, as this affects 2 out of 3 of the options. * Paradigm Shift is a long ranged, fast moving line-of-sight nuke * The ability has a short cast animation, in which the player can still move and adjust aim * Even though the particles continue, the skill doesn't penetrate walls * Ultimate ability, that can be used first at level 5. Damage equals 300 (+45/level) * The cooldown of Paradigm Shift is 60 seconds * The 10th Helix upgrade affects Paradigm Shift * Paradigm Shift can't crit * Paradigm Shift benefits from ** Cooldown Reduction ** Skill Damage ;Quick Melee Orendi scratches a target in front of her. * Melee attack * Deals 80 (+4%/level) damage * Knocks the target back a short distance * Has a maximum fire rate of 2 strikes/second (estimated value) * Can't be used continually when holding the respective button down (button has to be pressed repeatedly) Gear As for every character, Orendi's gear choices favor some stats over others. It is advised to see this part as a suggestion: Some may favor other stats depending on their playstyle. ;Gear Stats *'Exceptionally Good' **Cooldown Reduction **Skill Damage *'Situationally Good' **Shield Recharge Rate (if using Oh That Reminds Me) **Maximum Shield Strength (if heavily focusing on short skirmishing) *'Neutral (work on every character)' **Health Regeneration **Damage Reduction **Maximum Health **Movement Speed **Healing Received **Buildable Cost **Bonus Shards **Shield Recharge Delay **CC Reduction **Sprint Speed *'Suboptimal' (her basic attack dps isn't really remarkable, compared to the rest of her kit) **Attack Damage **Attack Speed **Critical Hit Damage *'Irrelevant (negatives can be used to make gear cheaper!)' **Reload Speed **Recoil Reduction **Heal Power (Unless choosing Essence Theft) ; Gear Here some Legendary gear that greatly synergizes with the character: *'Variable Morpher' **+7,80% Skill Damage, +84 Maximum Shield Strength **Effect: If a full cast of Shadowfire Pillar deals no damage, the next pillar to hit deals 25% more damage. **As explained in the Lore section, this item should only be used if the player intends to not use Preamble of Pain. *'Bola's Target Finder' **+9,10% Skill Damage, +5,04% Attack Speed **Effect: Damaging Enemies with Skills increases damage dealt to them by 5,60% for 10 seconds. **Greatly synergizes with Preamble of Pain, as the first tic of the DoT applies the debuff, and the rest of the skill benefits from it. *'Codex Fragment' **+9,10% Skill Damage, +210 Maximum Health **Effect: Stack +0,91% Skill Damage when taking damage. Max 10 stacks. **Damage, defense, and more damage. Depending on playstyle ad preference, an alternative to Bola's Target Finder. The damage increase breaks even at ~6 stacks, so keep that in mind when choosing between the two. *'Shield Web Interdictor' **+9,10% Skill Damage, +10,50% Shield Penetration **Effect: Skill hits prevent enemy shields from recharging for 8 seconds. **The effect helps Orendi if she doesn't manage to kill enemies with her skill rotation, by keeping down their shields for 5 more seconds than usual. The stat combination also helps her dealing with forced shields (overshields). *'Lorrian Skill Spike' **+9,10% Skill Damage, +4,20% Movement Speed **Effect: Skills gain a 7% chance to deal 50% bonus damage. **If you're willing to bet on a skill critting for a chance of up to 7%, this item is for you. *'Leechsteel Brooch' **+14% Healing Received, +5,46% Skill Damage **Effect: Gain +5,60% Life Steal on damage dealt by skills. **Definitely a great option if you like survivability. *'Voxis Core' **+140 Maximum Shield Strength, +5,46% Skill Damage **Effect: Enemies near the target of skills take +15% of the damage dealt to the target. **Greatly synergizes with her AoE damage. *'Veil Manipulator' **+2,1 Shards per Second, +5,46% Skill Damage **Effect: Gain Health regenration per Second for shards on-hand, up to +4,20 at 1000 shards. **A shard generator with secondary Skill Damage and passive Health Regenration. The extra shards will help you build structures for those badly needed levels. Rush this item from game start and then rack up xp. Helix Breakdown Below are presented recommended Helix choices for Orendi. – Unless your enemy has dangerous stealthers (Deande or Pendles), always pick for free damage. – Preference choice. Both left and right options work well. *' ' for ease of use. *' ' for advantage in dynamic combat (jumping and strafing). *' ' for defense (good with Recharge gear). *' ' wins in versatility; pick with Variable Morpher and Prognosticombo (Level 5, right). *' ' is the better version of ; pick for synergy with Pillarstorm. *' ' when using no cdr and for synergy with Encore (Level 4, right). *' ' for Pillarstorm builds. – Shadowfire Pillar has much more damage, utility and shorter cooldowns than Nullify, so always pick . *' ' when no healer is on your team and you intend to stay long. *' ' when healing is available or you don't care. – Nulllify has negligable damage. Pick . *' ' for quick combos. *' ' against teams with big shields or reshielding (LLC heroes, Reyna, Kelvin with gear). *' ' if you don't want either. *' ' absolutely overpowers in PvP damage. *' ' for extended combos. *' ' – dead enemies can't fight you. Builds A Build is a combination of Helix and Gear, that aims to achieve a certain task through adjusting both components in conjunction, and min-maxing that relationship. Below, some specialized builds that feature one important twist each. Please do not add variations of those builds when they only differ in minor choices! There is a generalized Helix advice section to ease those decisions. 'PvP Builds' ;Extended combos *''Goal'': This build is mostly based on getting out as many Shadowfire Pillars as possible. *''Requirements'': **Key choices are Encore at level 4,' Prognosticombo' at level 5 and both cooldown augments at level 8 and 9, as well as Reign of Chaos at level 10. **Also one primary and two secondary cooldown stats. Recommended is the Sketchy Gambler's Greyhound, which combines both, activates when spamming skills (perfect!) and has a cost reducing negative that doesn't affect Orendi. For the second item, a Legendary or Epic gear is recommended *''How it works'': Start off by casting the first Shadowfire Pillar SfP and the associated Encore. Your SfP will now be on about 11 seconds cooldown. Use Nullify to reset the cooldown of SfP and cast it again. Nullify will now be on about 16 seconds cooldown, and the two SfPs will reduce that to 6 seconds. Now start channeling your ultimate, which takes about 2 seconds. Your SfP resets, and you can chain another set of pillars. Nullify now came off of cooldown, and you use it to reset SfP one last time. You now used a continuous 8-pillar combo. *''Make sure to look out for:'' Pay attention to the order in which you activate your spells to not mess up your reset interactions. Chain SfP and Encore slowly, or the Encore Pillar will not make use of the Prognosticombo augment. ;Pillarstorm *''Goal'': This build works around the Pillarstorm augment to provide significant teamfight bursts. *''Requirements'': **Key choices are Preamble of Pain at level 4, Renaissance at level 5, and Pillarstorm at level 10. Select Rapid Deterioration '''at level 8 and '''Shadowfury at level 6 for even more Pillarstorm support. **For gear, skill damage and cooldown reduction are recommended. Noteworthy gear is Bola's Target Finder for perfect synergy with the Preamble of Pain effect. Also Shard generators with either Heal Power or Reload Speed negatives, to accumulate levels faster. *''How it works'': Gain experience as fast as possible, to reach the critical levels 5 and 10. Your ultimate is your tool of choice, and it is of utmost importance to have it available as often as possible. Chain a normal Pillar into Paradigm Shift for near-guaranteed kills. When you see an enemy with his shield down and around 75% health, jump the gun and begin channeling your ultimate. Make sure to continue using Nullify as often as posssible after that, to reduce the cooldown of your ultimate with Renaissance as fast as you can. Once you purchased Bola's Target Finder (assuming you use it), prepare enemies by hitting them with some skill damage. 5,6% are a noticable damage boost when approaching high values. Once you have unlocked Pillarstorm, the Preamble of Pain effect will apply to the summoned pillars, applying the debuff without any extra work. After you reach level 10, look out for clumped enemies and channel your ultimate for easy multikills. *''Make sure to look out for:'' Since you took Renaissance at level 5, your combo won't be as fluent as with other builds. You can compensate with one or two cooldown reduction items. ;Shield Penetration *''Goal'': This build ignores enemies' shields. Great when dealing with large shields, re-shielders (Reyna or Kleese) and overshields in general (great for destroying M3.Shepherd bots that save themselves with their overshields). *''Requirements'': **Key choice is Still Hating your Shields at level 9. With its negligible damage, Nullify will barely do damage anyways, so the cooldown reduction will be much more useful than I Hate your Pretty Shields. **For gear, it is recommended to use Trickster's Rusty Nail, and an Epic or Legendary item with secondary Shield Penetration. Since all your skills have an activation delay (exception Nullify's initial burst), this will accumulate to permanent 42% Shield Penetration. Your Shadowfire Pillars will now completely ignore shields. If you insist on fluent combos, it is advised to bring a cooldow reduction gear to compensate for the opportunity cost at level 9. *''How it works'': The build doesn't work around certain timings, so the playstyle is up to the chocie of the user. While the build does provide less dps than other builds due to the gear choices, it becomes incredibly valuable when the enemy team intends to rely on characters with large shields or fast reshielding methods. Those being Shayne&Aurox, Kleese, Reyna and Ambra, but it is also great to break the full-health condition of a bolt-slinging Galilea's It's Dangerous To Go Alone. *''Make sure to look out for:'' Teams without shields. Running into a team with a bunch of Eldrid renders 1,5 of your 3 gear-slots nearly useless. Use this build when you know what you will go up against. 'PvE Builds' Category:Strategy guide